The forgotten freshmen

They haven’t become members yet, but these incoming freshmen already have a name for their informal caucus.

“We’re calling ourselves the Noble Nine,” said Rep.-elect Karen Bass of California. “We’ve been going back and forth between the Noble Nine and Mighty Nine, but this one stuck.”

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A more apt nickname might be the Forgotten Nine. This historically tiny Democratic freshman class has been overlooked and overshadowed, compared with the history-making Republican revolutionaries of 2010 — the 87-member class that gave the GOP its new majority. The neglected Democratic rookies will end up in the back of the chamber and are last in line for committee assignments and, well, just about everything else.

But what they lack in political power they make up for in personal flair. Among them are a practicing Buddhist who is the first Asian-American woman to preside over a state Legislature; an accomplished artist-turned-lawmaker of African-American and Bangladeshi descent; and an Italian Jew who was the first openly gay mayor of a state capital.

They’ve gotten virtually no media attention while the mammoth GOP class has been profiled, picked apart and elevated every day since the election.

“It’s almost as though there aren’t any [Democrats],” Bass lamented, after thanking POLITICO for writing this story.

In this small group, women and minorities make up the majority, and half of the members were educated at Ivy League universities. Unlike the majority of the freshman class, who come from business backgrounds, nearly all the Democratic rookies are lawyers. They are, for the most part, card-carrying liberals — passionate, they say, about health care reform, revamping the public education system and economic development.

The hardy bunch that made it to Washington just in time for the Democrats’ long winter are older — with an average age of 53 years, compared with 48 years for the GOP freshmen. They also are politically experienced. Like Hawaii’s Colleen Hanabusa, who led her state Legislature, Bass made history by becoming the first African-American woman to serve as speaker of her state assembly. John Carney, elected to fill Republican Mike Castle’s Delaware seat, has served as his state’s lieutenant governor. And David Cicilline will replace Rep. Patrick Kennedy after serving as mayor of Providence, R.I.

“I was so looking forward to finally serving in the majority when I was elected,” said Congresswoman-elect Frederica Wilson, a Florida lawmaker who served in her state’s majority Republican Senate. She is so fond of her prodigious hat collection, she has requested incoming Republicans to alter the rules to allow her to wear them on the House floor. “I savored and relished the moment I would be sworn in and in the majority, perhaps on the route to chairing a committee, all of the wonderful perks that come with serving in the majority. And it flip-flopped just as it was my turn.”

While the prospect of becoming a junior member of a minority party seems less than ideal for an ambitious Washington newcomer, the new Democrats in the House are quick to look for the positive aspects of the job.